Matthew Ralls ‘14 believes divine intervention brought him back to Newman University for the 2024 summer Spanish immersion program.
“It’s something that only God could have constructed — to come full circle back here at Newman and to work with Profesora (Sonja) Bontrager and Sister Dani Brought, ASC, again,” he said. “It’s really just a miracle.”
A time of healing
In 2011, seven years after graduating from Goddard High School, Ralls was struggling. He experienced a painful divorce in 2010 and was, admittedly, searching for God in all the wrong places.
“When my parents (Newman alumni Barbara ‘99, ‘01 and Roger ‘98, ‘03) would come visit me in Wichita and saw how I was living, they said, ‘We need to help you.’ So they eventually moved back to Wichita and said, ‘Move in with us, we want you to go back to school.’”
“It was a golden opportunity to hit the reset button and see what God had woven together,” Ralls said. “I believe what really saved me was the hearts at Newman.”
After being away from the Catholic Church for 10 years, Ralls describes his journey at Newman University as a time of learning, discovery and healing.
“I feel like I had a lot of pain in my life, and the staff and the students here, they saw right through that,” he said. “They saw me for who I was.”
Ralls studied philosophy and experienced “the best teachers” at Newman. The university felt like home.
“It was Spanish, theater, being a member of the improv team,” he said. “But probably the most important thing I did at Newman — and I wouldn’t be here without — was going to Guatemala.”
Guatemala Study and Serve
In 2012, Bontrager, assistant professor of Spanish and co-director of Hispanic initiatives, invited a guest speaker to share how Newman’s Guatemala Study and Serve program changed her life. Bontrager then asked Ralls’ class to write a letter in response to the presentation.
“I remember writing, ‘That sounds cool and great, but there’s no way I could do something like that, that sounds dangerous and outside my comfort zone,’” Ralls said. “But Profesora (Bontrager) had a way of talking right to my heart, giving a gentle nudge and saying, ‘I think you should go to Guatemala.’”
Ralls embarked on the trip and the experience was life-changing — so much so that he returned to Guatemala the next summer. He served in a health care project with the ASC sisters, took language classes, went on excursions and stayed with multiple host families.
“It taught me that … it’s okay to feel helpless and vulnerable,” he said. “There’s a phrase that a professor or priest liked to say: ‘The thing about working with the poor is first your heart breaks and then you’re ruined for life.’ I think that’s just so true in many ways. It completely changed my perspective and opened up my heart.”
Bontrager explained that language immersion can be exceptionally challenging, as it “can often leave us feeling powerless to express or present ourselves as we wish,” she said.
“Many of us avoid this powerlessness, but millions around the world experience it every day,” Bontrager said. “Matthew shows us some of the joy that comes from the meaningful connections, renewed faith and deep purpose that can flow from that willingness to listen and communicate in a new language.”
God has created me to do Him some definite service.
St. John Henry Newman, university namesake
On the road to becoming a priest
Ralls will never forget when he and a member of his host family stood outside, she looked at him and said out of nowhere, “Mateo, you are going to be a priest.”
He said, “It made me wonder, ‘What does she see in me?’ Then when I came home that summer and was talking with one of my cousins the day after I came back, she says, ‘You’re going to be a priest one day.’”
These phrases echoed in his mind for many years. When Ralls finally heard the call to return to God in 2020, after nearly 20 years apart from the church, he surrendered everything.
“I felt a lot of peace, that God is real and loves us infinitely, and I surrendered to that,” Ralls said. “I thought if this is God calling me to be a priest, I really need to go back to church.”
A pit stop at a faith-filled spot
Fast-forward to the present day, and Ralls is one step closer to fulfilling his vocation as a Catholic priest. He is currently a seminarian in Discipleship II in Denver. By 2028 or 2029, he will serve as a transitional deacon for a year before his priestly ordination.
In the meantime, Ralls is grateful to spend his summer participating in the Newman Spanish immersion program — an unexpected fold in God’s map of his life.
“I had no idea I would be at Newman again,” he said. “I think Profesora (Bontrager) was just as surprised.”
Bontrager said Ralls’ discernment reminds her that “God works in our lives and reveals outcomes on a different timeline from any we might declare for a course or program. It is a gift to welcome him back to Newman University as he continues to say ‘Yes!’ to the call to serve.”
On the first day of class this summer, Ralls was overwhelmed with emotion at the full-circle nature of God’s plan. He believes his challenging journey in walking with God has led him purposefully to this moment.
“Ten years after attending Newman, I think I can finally start to see what Profesora (Bontrager) saw in me so long ago,” he said.
Explore Newman University
At Newman University, we help you discover your difference. Experience a personalized and transformative education that empowers you to make your distinctive mark in the world.
